Being short is not always a disadvantage for a video game. Many talented developers from around the world have great and innovative ideas to make video games but the small budget and few team members do not allow them to start a big project. Thus, they try to pack their ideas in a short but beautiful game. These small games show their developers' capabilities in design and storytelling and potentially give them the opportunity to go for a more ambitious game in their next project. Undoubtedly, Before I forget is one of these titles. The game has been developed only by two persons (Claire Morwood and Chella Ramanan) from 3-Fold Games, and it's an average one hour experience.

The game tells the story of an Indian woman called Sunita. One day, she finds herself alone in her house so she starts going from room to room to realize what's going on, and where her beloved husband is. Gradually, she learns more about her past including her job, her family, and her relationship. I believe the developers have chosen a good and touching story to accompany us with a person suffering from dementia. In the first few minutes of playing the game, we face two important questions: Who is Sunita and where is her husband? Finding the answers to these questions creates a strong motivation to inspect the smallest objects in the house.

Before I forget has a good story but the part that the game really shines is storytelling. In fact, there are the objects in the house that tells the story. If you interact with an object in the game, it triggers a memory for Sunita. Reading a letter, looking at a picture, or staring at a star map brings back one piece of Sunita's lost memory, and unveils a secret. The game also enjoys the right pace of providing the facts, thus, there are always things to learn about Sunita's past during one hour of playing the game.

I like the developers' artistic approach in Before I forget. When you interact with an object, the colors start to appear on the object and what are around it. I believe the colors are symbols of memories, and when we see them on an object it means that we obtained a piece of missing memory. It is indeed our memories that make our belongings important for us. They usually carry a part of our past life which could be sweet or bitter. The developers of Before I forget successfully show it in their game.

The game mainly suffers from two flaws, one in the gameplay and another one in the story. I start with the gameplay problem. Before I forget is a plain walking simulator. The gameplay is limited to walking around and interacting with the objects. There are no puzzles or other elements that give you the feeling of playing a video game. This approach might be okay for a one hour title, however, adding a few puzzles could have made the game more interesting. Particularly, the star map and the constellations had great potential to be converted to a puzzle.

I'm not a fan of the game's ending. During the game, we find some clues about a tragic fact, and eventually, we uncover it in the final room. The main reason for this tragic event is a problem in Sunita and her husband's relationship. Nevertheless, we do not find many clues about this problem when we interact with the environment during the game. What we see in the game is mostly the good part of Sunita's life. I wished to hear more about the dark part and become ready for the final shock at the end of the game.

Verdict:

Before I forget is short but beautiful. The developers from 3-Fold Games have chosen the right approach to tell the story of a person suffering from dementia. Adding some puzzles to the game and improving some parts of the story could have resulted in an even better experience.